Britain On The Brink Of Its First Heatwave Emergency

Danger to life as temperatures could hit 40C this weekend

- Alastair Jamieson

Britain could see its first national heatwave emergency this weekend as forecasters warn of dangerously high temperatures in the coming days. The Met Office predicts the mercury will exceed 35C and could even reach 40C on Sunday. There is around a 30 per cent chance that the current heat record – of 38.7C set in Cambridge in 2019 - could be broken.

As parts of the South East sweltered at 31C yesterday, the Met Office issued an updated “amber" extreme heat warning covering 17 and 18 July for much of England and Wales. Exceptionally high temperatures are expected to peak on Monday and the hot spell could last into next Tuesday.

According to the official Heatwave Plan for England, the decision on whether to declare an emergency would be taken coordinated by the Cabinet Office. Southern areas of England have already been placed on the second-highest level of alert this week by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a measure that requires health and social services to take action to protect vulnerable people.